Once Upon a December
by Allanna Stone
Summary: Archer Rose is Severus Snape's daughter. One night, she meets Bellatrix and Nercissa Malfoy and she is tossed from her sheltered life into a world where she must think quickly on her feet, lie her way out of danger and protect her guarded heart. What happens when she meets the Dark Lord's son… and falls head over heels in love with him?


**Once Upon a December**

**I only own Archer Rose. Nothing else.**

**SUMMARY:**

**Archer Rose is Severus Snape's daughter. One night, she meets Bellatrix and Nercissa Malfoy and she is tossed from her sheltered life into a world where she must think quickly on her feet, lie her way out of danger and protect her guarded heart. What happens when she meets the Dark Lord's son… and falls head over heels in love with him?**

It was just another normal evening for Archer Rose as she worked on composing a melody that had been haunting her for four days.

"_Sparkling angel I believed, you were my savior in my time of need_," she hummed quietly as she played the same tune over and over again, frustrated that she couldn't move on from the first verse. Knowing that she would not get any sleep until she finished the song, she decided that what she needed was a bowl of cereal to help her look over her music and see what all she was missing.

Archer Rose tiptoed down the winding staircase that led to her attic bedroom in Spinner's End and quietly began to make her way towards the kitchen.

She rounded the corner and was almost knocked over by a rat-like man who was barely a foot taller than she was. The petite fourteen year old girl just ignored Peter Pettigrew, who was muttering about dirty little house elves who should been beheaded, and instead continued towards the small, but well stocked kitchen.

She entered the cheery kitchen and smiled as she went towards the pantry to retrieve her favorite cereal and found it where she had placed it just that very morning when she had returned from the grocery store. She decided to ignore the bowls and spoons, instead opting to pour herself a glass of milk and sit at the table, while eating from the box and occasionally taking a sip of milk while looking over her music.

About half an hour later, she discovered why she was stuck and had corrected the troublesome notes before standing to put away her box of cereal. When she passed by the stove on her way back up the stairs, somehow or other, the tea kettle jumped up off the stove and hit the floor with a loud clatter.

Archer Rose froze in her spot.

It was silent.

Then, an angry woman's screech filled roomy house as loud footsteps pounded on the oak floors.

Suddenly, the door that led from the kitchen towards the fornt of the house was flung open, while a woman shouted, "Severus, I'd be more than happy to kill that sniveling, miserable rat-"

She stopped when she saw Archer Rose, still frozen in her spot. The woman's had her wand out and it was pointed at Archer Rose, who looked scared out of her mind.

"Well, hello there," spoke the woman calmly, moving aside to show that there was another woman behind her and Archer Rose's father.

"'ello," mumbled Archer Rose, snapping out of her terrified state of mind and slowly beginning to inch towards the stairs again, clutching her music to her chest.

"Who are you?" asked the woman, twirling her wand around in her hands as Severus Snape looked on with horror as his daughter moved away from the dangerous madwoman.

"Archer Rose," she whispered.

"Archer Rose?" sniffed the woman. "A Muggle name, no doubt."

"I lived in foster homes before I found papa," she squeaked. "My mother died when I was an infant. I had no name, so the caretaker named me."

"So you're not a Muggle, then?" asked the woman, stepping closer to Archer Rose to caress her face. The young girl flinched at the woman's touch.

"No ma'am, I am not a Muggle," she answered in a terrified voice, now afraid of moving an inch.

"And your mother?" asked the woman, going to twirl a strand of Archer Rose's brown-black curls on a finger.

"Papa never speaks of her- I never ask," whispered Archer Rose, her eyes flickering towards her father's face, which was paler than normal.

"Severus?" called the woman, turning to face him. Archer Rose choosed that time to try and bolt up the stairs, but the woman grabbed her by the wrist and turned her so that they were looking into each other's eyes.

"Do you know who I am?" asked the woman. Archer Rose nodded. "Say it then- go on, say my name!"

"Bellatrix Lestrange," squeaked Archer Rose, before wrenching herself free of the escaped madwoman's grip and darting upstairs.


End file.
